LEM Early History
The Lutheran Evangelistic Movement and a forgotten mid-20th century revival, an online book by Jonathan Anderson.
Online book
Read the book chapter by chapter.
You probably wouldn’t be too surprised if I were to tell you that there was a time in the history of our country when nearly half of the population attended church on any given Sunday, the Bible was the best-selling book for years in a row, and…
On the north shore of Medicine Lake in Plymouth, Minnesota, stands a site that is an undeniable testimony to God’s mighty working in the post World War II years. It’s a site past which hundreds of people walk, jog, and bike on any pleasant day. It’s…
If you had been a Lutheran pastor, evangelist, or lay leader in the upper Midwest in 1936, you might well have received several weeks before Christmas the following letter which read in part:1 Dear Co-workers for Christ: You are cordially invited to…
On a certain Sunday afternoon many years ago, two friends were walking together and talking intently as they went. As would be fitting for any Christians to do on the Lord’s Day, they were discussing Jesus’ suffering and death and its meaning. And…
Throughout the centuries, it has often been a popular activity to compile genealogies or family trees. Although these are sometimes begun for no other reason than curiosity or hobby, they may aid those of a younger generation in understanding…
If its name was to be merely reflective of its largest and most widely-known work, the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement might just as aptly have been named the Lutheran Deeper Life Movement. It’s true that the original priority of the Lutheran…
What did the members of the Lutheran Inter-Synodical Evangelistic Committee believe was so indispensably distinctive about the work to which God had called them? By their own admission, “Various efforts to promote sound Lutheran evangelism [have…
“It is our earnest prayer that our beloved church may in these days experience a heaven sent revival and showers of blessings. It is ‘Revival or Ruin.’”1 So said Evald J. Conrad on behalf of the whole Lutheran Inter-Synodical Evangelistic Committee…
There is perhaps a danger inherent in this history of the Lutheran Inter-Synodical Evangelistic Committee and Lutheran Evangelistic Movement. The focus is so much on the positive that the reader is liable to mistakenly get the impression either that…
As World War II entered what proved to be its final months, the invisible hand of One who knew the future propelled the Lutheran Inter-Synodical Evangelistic Committee mightily forward into a vast expansion of their program. It was a time of urgent…
The spiritual revival for which the leaders of the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement were seeking the Lord during the 1940’s was not a need limited to their sphere of influence. It was a desperate national need. The World War II years were not a time…
According to written accounts of many who have lived during times of revival, one of the chief characteristics of such times has been the tremendous spirit of prayer preceding and accompanying them. Thus, older Christians who have observed revival…
During the first eight months of 1949, the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement had witnessed in and around their areas of ministry mightier and more regular stirrings of God’s Spirit than had occurred for decades in the United States. Their leaders were…
As witnessed by the national press, Billy Graham, the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement, and countless other Christian groups and individuals, the mid-century year 1950 was a remarkable year of heaven-sent revival across the United States. Even more…
As has been recounted in the previous chapters, the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement was one of God’s mighty tools for revival during the post World War II years and a witness to many of His wonderful works. Yet the LEM was not, of course, without its…
That God did indeed send revival to the U.S. during the ten or so years post World War II is quite clear. Dr. J. Edwin Orr, being one of the chief revival historians of all time and having lived during that era himself, referred to it in retrospect…
When Jesus Christ lived on earth some 2,000 years ago, He did not limit His ministry to one location. Rather He said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.” (Luke 4:43 KJV) Similarly, God’s work on earth…
It’s not unusual for people to have some type of belief system that motivates them throughout their lives, but it is quite unusual for people to have a belief system that gives them joy and eager anticipation as they face their last days on earth.…
Civilization has always been on the advance, but perhaps during no period has it ever progressed as rapidly as it did between 1900 and 1950. The advances made then in science and technology were enough to astound any American whose adult life…
Selected Bibliography America’s Hour of Decision. Wheaton, IL: Van Kampen Press, 1951. An Ongoing Revival. Warren, MN: Warren Sheaf Print, 1990, Harvey Dyrud, editor. Appasamy, A.J. Write the Vision! Edwin Orr’s Thirty Years of Adventurous Service.…